Indonesia To Push Ahead With Thailand-Cambodia Peace Plan

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Indonesia to push ahead with peace plan

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Indonesia, as chair of Asean, will continue efforts this weekend to jump-start a plan to have its observers assess and monitor the permanent ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia at the border areas adjacent to Preah Vihear Temple.

A two-day meeting of the Thailand-Cambodia Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) in Bogor that ended yesterday did not produce any significant outcome on permanent peace between the two conflicting neighbours.

The JBC simply discussed minor technicalities, remaining many steps away from the completion of boundary demarcation at the disputed areas.

Thailand and Cambodia are at loggerheads over the border in many locations along some 800 kilometres of the boundary. The most serious portion is around Preah Vihear, where both countries claim sovereignty of 4.6 square kilometres of land.

The dispute at the Hindu temple has led to armed conflict several times but the latest skirmish in February was the most serious, claiming the lives of at least 10 people including civilians on both sides, as well as heavily damaging properties.

The boundary at the temple has not yet been clearly demarcated since the JBC has performed its work at a snail's pace over recent years. Domestic political conflict in Thailand has added to the complexity of the issue as nationalist groups oppose any deals they regard as changing the status of the territory.

Phnom Penh has run out of faith in a bilateral deal to end the conflict and put the issue before the United Nations Security Council and Asean after the February clash.

The UN asked Asean, as a regional forum, to implement the peace plan and asked the conflicting parties to use existing bilateral mechanisms to settle the conflict. Jakarta planned to do two things to implement permanent ceasefire: jump-start bilateral mechanisms on border affairs and dispatch Indonesian observers to the disputed areas.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said yesterday that the JBC meeting had reached no agreement on solving the dispute since the issue was too complex and could not be solved in one meeting.

Furthermore, the dispatch of observers to the Thai-Cambodian border is still far from materialising since Bangkok is reluctant to agree to the terms of reference (TOR) for the observation.

The Thai military initially proposed discussing the observation in the military-run Thailand-Cambodia General Border Commission (GBC). But as Jakarta called a GBC meeting together with the JBC in Bogor, the Thai generals changed their minds, saying they would not meet in a third country.

The Thai military, indeed, does not want to welcome any third party in any form to the disputed area. They don't want Indonesian observers present at the disputed area of 4.6 square kilometres near Preah Vihear.

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has added more difficulties, threatening yesterday that the government should not agree to the TOR before an approval by Parliament, otherwise it would be unconstitutional.

Natalegawa said he would have an informal meeting with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya today in Jakarta

to discuss the matter again, on the sidelines of the Asean-Japan meeting.

This time, Indonesia has a slim hope of seeing its observers dispatched to monitor peace at the Thailand-Cambodia border. Natalegawa said the observation was simply an instrument for peace, not the main goal.

The main purpose was to ensure the situation in the border area was continuously peaceful and safe, with or without observers, he said.

As the situation at the border is now relatively quiet, perhaps observers aren't necessary, but the Asean chair still needs to do something to ensure stability in the area.

-- The Nation 2011-04-09

[geovalin]

"As the situation at the border is now relatively quiet, perhaps observers aren't necessary, but the Asean chair still needs to do something to ensure stability in the area."

It depends on the royalists, the Dems and the army. If they need to have a war at the border to win the elections, they'll attack Cambodia again.

[Gonzo the Face]

"As the situation at the border is now relatively quiet, perhaps observers aren't necessary, but the Asean chair still needs to do something to ensure stability in the area."

It depends on the royalists, the Dems and the army. If they need to have a war at the border to win the elections, they'll attack Cambodia again.

So you are of the belief that Thailand did in fact attack Cambodia.